Do you think President Barack Hussein Obama is Muslim?
A couple of new polls show that a growing number of Americans think Barack Obama is Muslim. Why? So far, the Washington Examiner’s conservative writer Byron York has the worst explanation: because Obama sometimes mentions his “Muslim roots,” confusing everyone!
The White House blames the situation on a “misinformation campaign” from Obama’s opponents. But Obama and his aides might also blame themselves for the way they’ve handled the Muslim issue over the years.
The question did not come out of nowhere. As Obama said, his grandfather was a Muslim. His father was raised a Muslim before becoming, by Obama’s account, “a confirmed atheist.” Obama’s stepfather was a Muslim. His half-sister Maya told the New York Times that her “whole family was Muslim.”
Obama spent two years in a Muslim school in Indonesia and later, in a conversation with the Times’ Nicholas Kristof, described the Arabic call to prayer, the beginning of which he recited by heart, as “one of the prettiest sounds on Earth at sunset.” Given all that, it is entirely accurate and fair to describe Obama as having Muslim roots.
Yes, that is entirely fair and accurate, to say that he has “Muslim roots.” York also notes that Obama discussed his “Muslim roots” in a major speech in Cairo last year. What does this have to do with him being “Muslim,” though?
Many people do not pay close attention to news reports. It’s entirely possible some of them blurred the distinction between “Muslim roots” and “Muslim,” especially since Obama in Cairo celebrated what his campaign had once downplayed. The public may be doing the same thing now, particularly after Obama chose a White House Ramadan iftar dinner to make a high-profile statement in support of the Ground Zero mosque. Gawker
Obama makes La Traffic even worse
Hef Twitters- With Obama in LA, traffic has been brutal all day, so I’ve been concerned about Crystal coming back from San Diego, but here she is.
Snooki vs. President Obama
Snooki calls President Obama a liar..
Why?
Well during his appearance on The View the other day, Obama said he didn’t know who Snooki was. However, in May, our commander in chief joked that Jersey Shore‘s pint-sized firecracker, along with JWoww and The Situation, should be excluded from paying the new tanning tax.
“I know he knows who I am,” Snooki said yesterday at the Television Critics Association convention at the Beverly Hilton Hotel. “Why did he have to lie and say he didn’t know me? He did say Snooki and JWoww about the tanning stuff and now he doesn’t know who I am? He has to stop lying.” Hollywood on Crack
Knowing who Snooki is, is bad for business!
Sean Penn is suspicious of Wyclef Jean
Wyclef Jean recently announced that he’ll run for president of Haiti but having never really lived there and having no prior political experience, people like Sean Penn think Wyclef’s motives are a little suspicious.
Penn appeared on CNN yesterday to voice his concern about Wyclef’s bid for presidency. He brought up the allegations that Wyclef mishandled $400,000 in donations and suggested that big corporations are behind his run for office.
“I see in Wyclef Jean somebody who could well have been influenced by the promise of support of companies. I think Haiti is clearly vulnerable … There is a history of American interests coming in and underpaying people. This is a culture of one to two dollars a day, that they were making.”
Penn openly worried about American corporations and individuals “enamored” with Wyclef becoming “opportunists on the back of the Haitian people.”
“I haven’t seen or heard anything of [Wyclef Jean] in these last six months that I’ve been in Haiti. I think he’s an important voice. I hope he doesn’t sacrifice that voice by taking the eye off the very devastating realities on the ground,” Penn said. “I want to see someone who’s really, really willing to sacrifice for their country, and not just someone who I personally saw with vulgar entourage of vehicles that demonstrated a wealth in Haiti that, in context, I felt was a very obscene demonstration.”
Note that Sean Penn hasn’t actually lived in Haiti these last six months and also traveled around the place demonstrating his wealth but, you know, whatever. Jean replied:
“I just want Sean Penn to fully understand I am a Haitian, born in Haiti and I’ve been coming to my country ever since (I was) a child. He might just want to pick up the phone and meet, so he fully understands the man.”
Rudy Giuliani’s daughter arrested
The 20-year-old daughter of former New York City Mayor Rudolph Giuliani was arrested Wednesday on suspicion of shoplifting lipstick, lip gloss and other cosmetics, according to law-enforcement officials.
Caroline Giuliani, a student at Harvard, was taken into custody at the Sephora makeup store at East 86th Street near Lexington Avenue and taken to a nearby precinct. She was accused of taking five makeup items valued at about $100.
Soon after Ms. Giuliani’s arrest, officials from the store called the precinct and declined to press charges, according to the official. But New York police issued her a desk appearance ticket for petit larceny.
The Manhattan District Attorney’s office is reviewing the case to see if Ms. Giuliani will be prosecuted. A court date was set for Aug. 31. First-time offenders’ cases are often simply put on track to dismissal, if they commit no other offenses.
A spokeswoman for Sephora declined to comment.
Ms. Giuliani left the precinct around 7:15 p.m., accompanied by her mother, Donna Hanover. They left without commenting.
Michael Bachner, Ms. Giuliani’s lawyer, said, “Caroline is a lovely young woman; however, it would be inappropriate for me to comment on her mattter while it is in the legal process.” Asked specifically if Ms. Giuliani is denying any wrongdoing, Mr. Bachner replied, “We are not making any further comment.”
Ms. Giuliani and her elder brother, Andrew, have had a strained relationship with their father. In August 2007, as Mr. Giuliani was campaigning for the presidency, his daughter’s Facebook profile listed her as a member of Barack Obama’s page on the social-networking site.
Just months before, at Ms. Giuliani’s high-school graduation, Mr. Giuliani and his third wife, Judith, sat in the last row of the balcony. Mr. Giuliani left when the ceremony ended without speaking to his daughter. “This is a great day,” Caroline Giuliani told the Daily News then. “I am celebrating with my mom, my stepfather, my brother and other family friends.”
A spokeswoman for Mr. Giuliani said, “This is a personal matter and Mayor Giuliani asks the media to respect the privacy of his daughter at this time.”
According to online announcements of campus productions, Caroline Giuliani is heavily involved in theater at Harvard, directing a play called “Fat Men in Skirts,” and raised some eyebrows earlier this year when she acted in a show called “Ivory Tower,” a bawdy version of the television show “Dawson’s Creek.” She also played the lead role in “The Glass Menagerie.” Wall Street Journal
Happy Birthday President Obama
President Barack Hussein Obama turned 49 today!
Al Gore catches heat by Oregon Police
Al Gore was questioned by Portland, Oregon police regarding Molly Hagerty’s, a massage therapist, claim he sexually abused her in 2006. Hagerty is in her 50s.
Police only questioned Gore because detectives had not notified high-ranking officials they were dropping the case in 2006.
It sounds like officials are getting some heat from a political figure who wants to see Gore get smeared in the press, as if his split from Tipper Gore, his wife of 40 years, wasn’t enough humiliation.
The case will be probably closed again. The woman waited 4 years to come forward, and then sold her story.
The Beatles, Not?
The Jonas Brothers had the distinction of performing the pop classic “Drive My Car” requested by at his Gershwin Ceremony, airing this week on PBS.
Drake as President Obama Bio-Pic
Drake- It’s funny — the thing that I hear the least is ‘Drake makes bad music.’ People always have something to say about the way I look or the way I dress. People nitpick at my physical appearance more than my music, which is fine with me because when I look in the mirror, I know I’m not an unattractive person.
I hope somebody makes a movie about Obama’s life soon because I could play him. That’s the goal [laughs]. I watch all the addresses. Anytime I see him on TV, I don’t change the channel, I definitely pay attention and listen to the inflections of his voice. If you ask anyone who knows me, I’m pretty good at impressions. Slowly but surely, I’m not in the study mode because nobody’s called me about anything, but I just pay attention so when the day comes I’m not scrambling to learn how to speak like him. I want to be involved in great film projects. I don’t want to do the basketball movie that everyone does. I don’t want to do the typical black film that everyone expects. I think that I have enough experience to actually be involved in a real meaty project full of substance.
Michelle Obama gets a chilli dog
Michelle Obama, her daughters and her mother have been in LA since Sunday, keepin’ it gangster stopping by Pink’s for chilli dogs and going to Staples to watch the Lakers beat down the Celtics!
“She was here just now,” said Gloria Pink, co-owner of Pink’s, when reached by phone Tuesday afternoon to confirm a tweeted Michelle Obama sighting at the hot dog emporium. “It was fabulous,” said Pink, still sounding a bit dazed by the flurry over the Obama party’s late lunch on the patio. “No one bothered them, they just enjoyed their dogs,” she said. LA TIMES
Dirty Politics
Happy Birthday Mary Carey
Porn Star, Politician Marey Carey turned 30 today.
Did Sarah Palin Get A Boob Job?
Has former Alaska Governor Sarah Palin given “The Twins” a bit of a surgical boost? This picture of the bestselling author/conservative darling and her husband at The 142nd Belmont Stakes in New York City last weekend has the blogosphere abuzz with whispers that Palin has gotten a boob job.
Obama was in the music video For ‘Whoomp (There It Is)’?
Everyone from Tea Partiers to hip hop message boards thinks Obama was an extra in the music video for Tag Team’s single “Whoomp (There It Is)”.
Before you do anything else, check out 1:01 of the music video for Tag Team’s 1993 smash hit “Whoomp (There It Is)”. A tipster sent in the video along with a note:
Barack [is] in the Tag Team “Whoomp there it is” video. Don’t believe me? Judge for yourself.
Gawker
Berez Obama
Obama says the Lakers got this one
President Obama is projecting a Los Angeles Lakers win in the NBA finals.
Obama told TNT in an interview that he’s been surprised by Boston, but believes Kobe Bryant (FSY), Pau Gasol (FSY) and coach Phil Jackson would be too much for the Celtics.
”I’ve got to go with the Lakers again,” Obama said. “I think Gasol may be the best big man in the league right now. He’s different from Dwight Howard (FSY), but he’s (got) unbelievable footwork, speed, savvy, he’s playing magnificently.
“Kobe is the fiercest competitor in the league and they’ve got what I continue to believe is the best coach in the NBA right now in Phil Jackson, so they’re going to be formidable and I think it’ll be a tough series. Boston’s a veteran club, but the Lakers are looking pretty good.”
In the interview that aired Tuesday before Game 4 of the Western Conference finals, Obama also praised the Suns for taking a stand against Arizona’s immigration law, said it’d be great if Washington got John Wall (FSY) with the No. 1 pick, and that ticket prices would be his biggest concern if he was NBA commissioner for a day.
“I mean, I think that ticket prices have gotten so high, and I understand that salaries are high, ticket prices are going to be high, but you know, you hate to think that the only person that can go to a game is somebody who’s got a corporate account,” Obama said. “And that’s something that I’d love all professional sports, that’s not just NBA, but all professional sports to be thinking about that a little more.” Berez Obama
Laura Bush Car Crash Details In New Book
Former U.S. first lady Laura Bush is going public about a car crash in Midland, Texas, that claimed the life of a high school friend when she was 17.
In her new book, “Spoken from the Heart,” she describes being wracked by guilt and losing her faith for many years after she ran a stop sign and slammed into another car in 1963.
Bush also suggests that she, her husband, and several members of their staff may have been poisoned during a G8 summit in Germany where they all fell mysteriously ill. The Secret Service investigated and doctors found only that they had a virus. “We never learned if any other delegations became ill, or if ours, mysteriously, was the only one,” she wrote.
The book is scheduled to be released in May. The New York Times says it obtained a copy at a bookstore.
Bush bristles at criticism thrown at her husband, former President George W. Bush. She says his New Orleans flyover after Hurricane Katrina was in the best interest of victims and aid workers.
She criticizes Democrats for calling her husband “an incompetent leader” and a “loser.” She says that was “uncalled for.”
Porn Star for Senate?
Porn star Stormy Daniels says that she is thinking about tossing her hat in the ring for the upcoming Senate race in Louisiana. A lifelong Democrat, Stormy decided to switch parties and run as a Republican after the Republican National Committee picked up a $2000 tab at a sexy club in California. It was then that Stormy realized that Republicans might be more in line with her values.
Stormy (whose real name is Stephanie Clifford) says …
If the Louisiana Republican Party is uncomfortable with a Republican challenger who has a history of selling sex, I would suggest they reconsider standing by an incumbent with a history of paying for it.”
George W. Bush vs. Bill Clinton
While visiting Haiti earlier this week, George W. Bush and Bill Clinton shook hands with several Haitians in Port Au Prince. George after shaking a 5-year-olds hand, wiped it on Bill’s shirt.
Fox News vs. President Obama
President Obama gets dissed by Fox as he can’t get a word in edgewise with Bret Baier.
